August 2010

August 31, 2010

Watching Fox “News” host Glen Beck’s “Restoring Honor” rally on the National Mall in Washington D.C. one predominant thought that ran through my mind was about diversity and multiculturalism.

Most people around the world believe that diversity and multiculturalism are fine as long as they do not threaten to overwhelm the historically dominant cultural/religious/economic/political order. The dominant order everywhere will tolerate diversity and multiculturalism as long as those who constitute them remain subconsciously and even consciously subservient to that dominant order. Of course, there will be many tokenistic and salutary gestures in support of their superficial recognition of diversity and multiculturalism.

Think of diversity and multiculturalism as a fantastic idea which should remain largely a fantastic idea. That’s not my belief but the obvious fact of life.

I have a great deal to say on this but I am running late for an early morning appointment to discuss Hindu-Muslim relations in Ahmedabad with a local historian. So some other time.

August 30, 2010

It can be said with a fair degree of certainty that in no other country would you find an entire song written about/around a bedbug. This 1971 song from the movie Chhupa Rustam that I have embedded here, of course, is a spoof on composer S D Burman’s own ‘Dheere se jana bagiyan mein” of earlier vintage.

The notion that a man (Dev Anand) can use a bedbug as a metaphor for his own unexpressed love for a woman (Hema Malini) can exist only in a Hindi movie. In case you are wondering where I am going with the bedbug song, here is the context.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of America has issued a statement that “the United States is one of many countries now experiencing an alarming resurgence in the population of bed bugs.” The CDC is not looking for a theme song for the revived menace, otherwise I would have suggested this one.

"Although bed bugs are not known to transmit disease, they are a pest of significant public health importance. Bed bugs fit into a category of blood-sucking ectoparasites (external parasites) similar to head lice (Pediculus humanus capitis). Bed bugs, like head lice, feed on the blood of humans but are not believed to transmit disease. Other ectoparasites, such as body lice (Pediculus humanus corporis), are known to transmit several serious diseases. Differences in the biology of similar species of pests, such as body lice and head lice (or bed bugs) can greatly impact the ability of pests to transmit disease.” the CDC says.

Like most Indians born in the 1950s and 60s, perhaps even earlier, bedbugs were part of my formative years. On many a morning one discovered telltale evidence of how bedbugs had feasted on one’s blood the previous night. The red eruptions/bumps were not so painful but were extremely itchy. Speaking of itchy, I am sure some of you have noticed that scratching an itch can be a particularly pleasurable experience in the first few seconds of one breaking out.

The best antidote to bedbugs in those days for people in certain economic class was simply sunning the infested mattresses. I can still vividly remember striped mattresses laid out on the terrace of our rented home. A full day of Ahmedabad’s summer sun could be fatal for a human. No wonder bedbugs were roasted. Sunning was not a permanent solution to this menace but in the absence of anything else—and swatting each one of them being a somewhat tedious task—it was the best way.

As mentioned in the CDC statement bedbugs are not known carriers of diseases but they may “affect the mental health of people living in infested homes. Reported effects include anxiety, insomnia and systemic reactions.” In retrospect I can think of at least one person in my neighborhood whose mental health was affected by bedbugs. And no, it was not me contrary to what some of my posts here may suggest.

August 29, 2010

Without the slightest touch of irony Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari has expressed disappointment over the allegations of match-fixing against some Pakistani cricket team members. He has also called for an immediate preliminary report about the reports of the alleged match-fixing.

"The President, taking note of the reports, has directed that he should be kept posted about the developments as to what happened and what is the status of any inquiry that may have been ordered or held in London," Zardari’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar has been quoted as saying.

Zardari, incidentally, is the chief patron of cricket in Pakistan and hence responsible for anything that goes wrong with the game and its management. In case you did not know, he is also the president of Pakistan who has a slightly bigger problem on hand of the floods which have devastated an upward of 20 million people in some of the country’s most fertile regions. I don’t think he asked for a preliminary report on the floods within hours of the swirling waters drowning lives and futures.

The irony of perhaps Pakistan’s most reviled public figure persistently shadowed by serious charges of corruption himself responding so promptly to corruption in cricket is amusing in a tiresome sort of way. What’s he going to do? Lecture Pakistani cricketers on the importance of integrity and honesty? I would love to be part of that meeting.

I can almost visualize such a meeting taking place in the presidential palace in Islamabad.Here is a likely conversation between the president and the team members.

(Translation: Not just me but the whole of Pakistan feels embarrassed about the corruption (egregious conduct to be precise) by the cricket team. The whole country should be conscious that there is nothing more important than integrity in life.)

Salman Butt: (the team’s captain looking incredulous and trying hard to contain laughter): Ab nekdili or diyaanat ki baten hum ko aap se sunani padengi?! (Translation: We have to listen to you about the importance of honesty and integrity?!)

The meeting ends without anyone being served tea, cashews and biscuits.

August 28, 2010

As I go about reading ‘Man Monk Mystic’ all over again to determine the extent of revision an updated edition might require, I cannot but get struck by some of the comments made by the highly regarded Chinese scholar Dr. Orville Schell nearly a decade ago.

Once you get past the unabashed self-absorption that most journalists display in occasionally quoting from their own work, you would see that Dr. Schell does makes some very compelling arguments. So here are some excerpts from my own book in my own blog, which until recently, only I read.

The inevitable question of what the Dalai Lama's options are prompted a mixed response. “The Dalai Lama has done as good a job as he possibly could given the parameters of his own principles. It's the paradox of life that sometime might trumps principles and morality. One wishes it were otherwise but it isn't always. I can't think what else he can do. In many ways is an exemplar of absolutely the opposite of what China is all about. The problem is that China has so polluted itself with its own propaganda in regard to Tibet and Taiwan that it is very hard for China to think in a very revolutionary way and solve Tibet, something we can do in five minutes. Nothing would be lost and everything would be gained. China would become a truly great power in the eyes of the world, cosmopolitan, sophisticated which might be emulated in ways that even the United States cannot be emulated.”

The solution, he said, is for the Dalai Lama to go back. “Let the Dalai Lama go back as a cultural figure, given real political autonomy. Defense and foreign policy can be in Chinese hands. Do experiments the way Canada does with Quebec or the way Britain does with Scotland. This will have a very salutary effect on Hong Kong and Taiwan. It could do a one country, two systems that is real.”

Schell sent this proposal to the standing committee of China’s politburo. He said he knows for a fact that its translation was distributed among the higher-ups in the party. “I think they know it but there is something blocking the way, probably the military. We don't really know the conservatizing effect and power of whole blocks of Chinese institutional society, the security bureau, the People's Liberation Army, the party, and so on. I think people are aware of this but evidently no leader or block of leaders feels compelled or strong enough to launch a new policy initiative,” he said.

As things stand now Schell agrees that it is a dead end. “Yes, but you never know. Look at what happened to Eastern Europe or Russia. I don't think China is right now going to implement a well-ordered, well-articulated reform program with the goal of making Tibet a more autonomous or independent entity with the Dalai Lama playing some considerable symbolic role. They are going to pass out little scraps to a few delegations here and a few delegations there. That keeps everybody quiet and shuts everybody up and it keeps the status quo.”

In Schell’s assessment the question of Tibet is not territorial but psychological. “It is certainly not economic. To a minor extent they imagine it being strategically important. I think it has to do with the humiliation of China being dismembered in the 19th century. There is no reason for the Communist Party to govern unilaterally other than for nationalistic reasons. Communism is dead. It is Leninist form of capitalism. It is their one claim to fame and to continue on this one-party system is that it has made China whole. Tibet is a very important piece of it,” he said.

I suggested that perhaps the Dalai Lama could do something radical like showing up in Lhasa surreptitiously, the way he had left it in 1959. “It is an exciting idea, almost like a Hollywood movie. I am sure he would laugh his deep-throated chuckle at the idea. Although doing something like that does not sound like him, I cannot say it would not delight me if he did something like that. He is not that kind of person. He is not a provoker. But then that is about the only thing he could do something utterly shocking. May be hop on a horse and go the same he came out. Right now he plods around the world doing events for fawning Westerners. They love his spiritual cuddly side and he feels powerless to help his own people,” he said.

August 27, 2010

First the good news.You do want to catch the next flight or train or bus or taxi to Gujarat after watching a set of three 60-second each commercials just released by the state government.

Amitabh Bachchan brings to bear the enormous power of his iconic status as my home state’s brand ambassador in the commercials with consummate ease. I have already been in Gujarat for the past two months and I still want to visit the Gujarat he is selling in these ads.

If you are waiting for the bad news, well there isn’t any. Not in the context of these commercials at least. What can be possibly wrong with arguably the most recognized Indian figure telling you in his emphatic yet measured voice why you should visit Gujarat? Everything about these commercials is perfectly choreographed and staged as it should be for all tourism videos.

There is not a thread loose in Bachchan’s carefully chosen attire, nor a frame lose in the three minutes of striking visuals. Be it the minimalist, Zen-like Rann of Kutch or the foaming waves of Mandvi or the lingering flames of the Somnath temple or the tobacco-hued tones of the Gir forest, everything works.

Just a quibble about this particular shot in the Rann of Kutch commercial.

Having been there I know on a moonlit evening/night it can look quite close to what it does in this frame. However, I am not entirely sure about the position of the four stars and/or planets that you, I hope, can see at the top. They look suspiciously well placed. If this is a genuine shot, then it is brilliant. That’s a huge if to cross.

Here is a word of caution for those tourists who will pack their bags to go to Gujarat after watching these commercials. There will be no expensive camera and sound crews following you. You will not be able to walk in the gentle slo-mo the way that Mr. Bachchan does. You will not experience improbably cheerful people running past you in even slower-mo. There will be no tobacco filter in front of your eyes unless you choose to wear one. Your own home videos will look nothing like these. And, most importantly, you will have to spend your own money which still may not get you the visuals which are even ten percent of what you see here. If you are fine with all that, then I think, as Mr. Bachchan says, “breathe in a bit of Gujarat” in English or “Kuchh din to gujaro Gujarat mein” in Hindi, might be well worth a try.

Just remember that nothing will happen for you on cue the way it does for Mr. Bachchan.

August 26, 2010

Someone needs to remind Rahul Gandhi that it is his party’s government under his own mother’s watchful eye that is ruling India. Also, he has to decide soon whether he is an outsider looking in or an insider looking out.

The way he spun his message at a massive tribal rally at Jagannathpur village near the Niyamgiri hills in Kalahandi district in Orissa yesterday one could be mistaken into thinking that a single individual was locking horns with an evil empire. That some day, in not too distant a future, he could preside over that very empire was somehow lost in the forests of the Niyamgiri hills.

As political strategies go, it is an intelligent move to project this “I am an insider but really an outsider” spiel. At a different time in a very different atmosphere another Gandhi used that strategy to some devastating effect. To be a proponent and opponent of the same system simultaneously is a risky game if one cannot play it well. Because someone, somewhere among the tribal population would inevitably pause, reflect and ask, “Hey, wait a minute. Aren’t you the same guy who along with his mother controls the government?” (Excuse the fact that a tribal person would not actually construct a sentence like that but you get the point.)

It is time for Rahul to decide whether he is an insider dying to break free from the established political/economic order of New Delhi and become an outsider of consequence or whether he is an insider masquerading to be an outsider. The tribal rally was as perfect a text book political setting as it could ever get. A conscience laden scion of the country’s political royalty descends into the dust and grime of a notoriously backward region where degrading poverty and starvation have been the norm for decades among a vast majority of its tribal population.

Even the optics of the moment were perfect. A young man dressed in spotlessly white standard issue Congress Party kurta-pajama waving to the people with as much affection as it is possible from inside the ring of his heavily armed security detail.

From the tone of my post so far you could be forgiven for thinking that I am mocking Rahul Gandhi. I am really not. I am merely expressing skepticism about his strategy particularly because if it fails it would just end up being a huge charade. It is terrific that someone of his obvious political influence and prime ministerial prospects is standing by those who normally get railroaded. But he has to be mindful that very soon he will become the embodiment of that very order he seems to be railing against.

On a separate note it is remarkable how elemental the battle in the Niyamgiri hills is. At the heart of the entire political theater is bauxite, the most important aluminium ore, which is found close to the surface and is easy to mine.

Finally on a totally superficial and churlish note, India cannot have two successive prime ministers with a voice quality, intonation and projection that is so poor. When Manmohan Singh speaks you get the sense that he is doing so against the advice of his own brain. It is not too different from Gandhi either. Take some voice lessons Mr. Gandhi if you want to be heard for the foreseeable future.

August 25, 2010

Aurora and aurum approximately mean the same thing. One means dawn in Latin and is also the name the goddess of dawn. The other means ‘shining dawn’. The colors of some of the auroral lights seen over the polar regions can resemble gold in its many different hues. Aurum, incidentally is the Latin for gold and it is identified as Au-79 on the periodic table.

And the point of all this is? Well, the price of aurum or ‘shining dawn’ has risen to an eight-week high of $1240 an ounce.The rise is being attributed to the continuing depression in the US real estate market. Gold still remains about $20 below its all-time high price on 1264.90 on June 21 this year.

It is shining dawn time for all those who buy and hoard gold. It is quite obvious that the US home sales are going to remain unimpressive for quite some time and that could continue to inflate gold prices.

While “researching” to write this post I turned to a source which only I have access to. It is known as Wikipedia which informed me after guaranteeing it complete anonymity that “A total of 165,000 tonnes of gold have been mined in human history, as of 2009.” That incidentally is the figure maintained by the World Gold Council. Hence it must be accurate. Even if it is not, who is going to check? And why would it matter?

Something tells me that of the 165,000 tonnes mined, at least 164,000 ought to have been bought and hoarded by Indians and the remaining 800 by gangsta hip hop guys. The final 200 tonnes hang around Bappi Lahiri’s neck. From aurora and aurum to Bappi Lahiri, that is random even by my standards of randomness.

Gold interests me as much as diamonds, that is to say not at all. As a family we do have some gold that got inevitably gifted to us as part of one’s marriage. I don’t know how much I have but it could not be all that much considering my home, which has lost 35% of its value, has not been broken into yet. Prospective burglars must have figured that if we continue to live in a home that has lost its value, why would we have anything valuable inside it?

PS: ‘Shining dawn’ sounds like the street name of a particularly potent narcotic.

August 24, 2010

There is nothing to prevent me this morning from pontificating on the weightier issues of our time such whether tolerance by its very nature is unilateral or multilateral. For the record, I think it should begin as a unilateral action that has to generate multilateral support eventually for it to be effective. Wow, this is such esoteric non-sense.

So let me write this short post about something far less complex and something that has intrigued me for a while. I have always been a very formal person when it comes to addressing those whom I am meeting or getting introduced to for the first time. I always use Mr., Mrs. or Miss so and so and continue to use it for a fair length of time. I still address some of my decades-old friends thus.

I find it strange when people feel immediately comfortable to call me Mayank soon after being introduced. This is notwithstanding that I continue to address them formally. Rather than speculating about whether the imaginary cat is dead or alive or both dead and alive in Erwin Rudolf Josef Alexander Schrödinger’s famous thought experiment, I have chosen today to pose this profound question to all those concerned—Why do you immediately call me Mayank, especially when I have not yet come down to the first name basis?

I suspect it is something to do with the fact that I am a journalist and most people feel a sense of vague familiarity with this profession and those who practice it. Either that or they think I am not deserving of any honorific.

August 23, 2010

If you have ever tried to cross any road in just about any major city or town in India, you ought to have wondered whether you would make it in one piece to the other side. Pedestrians are a nuisance for Indian town planners that, at best, may be tolerated and at worst be run over.

That’s why I did this story after fellow journalist Vidyadhar Date recently came out with a book about pedestrian rights in India. In one word they just do not exist.

Ahmedabad, Aug 23 (IANS) Next time you are fearful of running the near mortal gauntlet of city traffic, remember Vidyadhar Date is rooting for you.

In a country where road accidents kill over 100,000 people every year, the rights of the pedestrians have been routinely run over. As Indian cities increasingly become intensely automobile-centric urbanscape, there is very little being done for those who may not be able to afford cars and other means of private transport.

Date, a veteran journalist, feels passionately enough about the rights of the pedestrians that he has written a book called "Traffic in the era of climate change: Walking, cycling, public transport need priority" (Kalpaz Publications, Pg 366, Rs. 890).

"Indian planners and engineers are obsessed with the motor car and its requirements. They have comprehensively failed to attend to the basic issue of providing footpaths for pedestrians. There is also the awful apathy of the political class. It is shocking that this is happening in the land of Mahatma Gandhi," Date told IANS in an interview after the release of the book here.

"We forget what a great heritage we have in him (Gandhi) in every way. As for walking he gave it dignity and made it into a symbol of resistance to the British. Ironically, at least as far as footpaths are concerned the British did a much better job. Our guys have made things progressively worse since independence," Date said.

"The book deals with the politics, economics and sociology of the motor transport in general, the craze for speed, the complete lack of democracy on roads and the loss of public spaces, caused by cars," he said.

Date believes that the neglect of pedestrians has something to do with "the rulers' attitude of contempt towards common people."

"Unlike in Europe, the upper classes in India do not walk on the road. For them it is something below dignity. So the facilities for ordinary people suffer," he said.

Date also sees "a class and caste angle to this discrimination." "The Vykom Satyagraha of 1924-25 was in response to the authorities' refusal to allow Dalits to walk on certain roads around the Vykom temple in Kerala. In Pune, in the late 18th century Dalits had to sweep the street after they walked on it as the street does get `polluted with their presence' ", he said.

The author cites the example of the "much trumpeted new Bandra Worli sea link in Mumbai" which is exclusively for cars. "It could have easily provided an excellent walkway alongside and walking here would have been an exhilarating experience. Now with increasing awareness about environment and walking, many people would have liked to walk here. Some of the most famous bridges in the West do provide for pedestrian walkways," he said.

Date believes that given India's high population density and hundreds of millions of travelers it is an ideal place for public transport and pedestrian freedom. "It makes perfect economic sense to give priority to public transport which uses much less fuel and road space and causes much less pollution than private transport," he said.

"We can wean away people from motor cycles and cars by providing a decent public transport system. In the West the upper class regularly takes the city buses and trains. We need to give more dignity to travelling by public transport. Our rich have a bias against public transport," Date said.

Beyond the debate of whether cars are an inevitable consequence of economic growth, Date thinks walking should be encouraged generally because it has many sociological and health benefits.

August 22, 2010

It is heartening to see someone of Mani Shankar Aiyar’s caliber pull himself out of near irrelevance and oblivion to emerge as one of India’s most compelling contrarians.

The Commonwealth Games may or may nor succeed but they can claim at least one impressive success even before the rubble from the construction of stadia has been cleared. In a sense Aiyar’s public career has risen so shiningly from that debris. It may not sound like it but I am being very sincere.

During my days in New Delhi in the late 1980s and 1990s I had my share of encounters with Mani and each one of them was memorable for passion with which he spoke about everything. He gave you the sense that in anything that he said his words were meticulously weighed, precisely measured and efficiently delivered. And yet he made it sound as if he had just conjured it all up in his mind right in front of you.

The most fascinating thing about Mani is that the more he feels marginalized and jettisoned by his own party, the more compelling he becomes. It is almost as if he is daring the party to expel him even though he is not saying anything that the Congress Party can seriously disagree with. What he is displaying these days is audacity that comes from having no fear because one has nothing to lose.

If I were his image consultant, I would urge him to continue on the trajectory that he is currently on, either by design or default or a combination of the two. His very public opposition to the Commonwealth Games for some very legitimate reasons has given him so much traction within the class of Indians that he would rather not have anything to do with, namely the middle class.

Mani should consciously cast himself in the role of an eternal public contrarian/curmudgeon and then build on the consequent credibility to offer solutions to large national problems the way he sees them.

I was particularly struck by his concluding remarks on Barkha Dutt’s show ‘We the People’ on the theme ‘Is the real India forgotten?’ on NDTV last night. The way he offered a pattern in how in the sixth decade of all major industrial/economic revolutions around the world the countries concerned witnessed a historic unraveling speaks of his ability to powerfully illustrate his perspective which inevitably runs counter to the popular opinion. The role of a public contrarian is not to make people agree with him or her but to seriously provoke so that the resultant debate, disagreement and the churning that goes with it would help find new ways and solutions.